Due to untreated material use, Norfolk Southern Railway filed a lawsuit at the end of October against an Alabama railroad tie manufacturing company. About 4.7 million railroad ties are affected and are now expected to decay much quicker than originally anticipated by the Railway. This issue warrants the necessity to replace every railroad tie that was not covered in the protective chemical, creosote. The company held responsible is Boatright Railroad Products LLC.

As defined in the lawsuit, to a Norfolk Southern Railway consultant, Boatright exhibited deceptive examples of the wood ties that were to be used in production. The samples provided did not reflect the ties actually implemented in the railroad. Despite the industry standard of using creosote as a protective coating on the wood, which prevent wear and decay, Boatright used paint, motor oil, and anti-freeze to elicit the appearance of properly treated material.

In an effort to discourage suspicion, employees for Boatright were urged to darken the color of the wood in any way possible. While the exterior of the product looks the same as treated ties, the lack of protective coating presents a potential threat of safety for any person traveling on the railroad.

Boatright’s effort to cut corners and save costs will now result in a disaster for all parties involved. Not only will the Norfolk Southern Railway, which stretches across 22 states, have to have defective railroad ties replaced, but passengers of the railroad will face delays or alternate routes to allow time for the repairs. If the pending lawsuit does not settle in favor of Boatright, the company’s intention to save money may end in a hefty payout to the plaintiff, Norfolk Southern Railway.

Those concerned are asking for more thorough and frequent inspections of the railroad. When the rail ties are untreated or decaying, the safety of all people who travel or work the railroads are subjected to risk of accident or derailment. The probability of someone getting injured is high, as Boatright provided Norfolk Southern Railway with almost 5 million railroad ties from 2009 to 2014. Since a large portion of the ties used to construct one of the country’s largest railroads are manufactured by Boatright Railroad Products LLC, it is critical to ensure that every material used is reliable and safe.

A mobile game developer has been dealt a bad hand after naming one of their card games apps after a fictional Star Wars property. The lawsuit was filed by Disney and Lucasfilm in the state of California and seeks to protect its intellectual property and trademarks. The app is modeled after a game called “Sabaac”, which is how Harrison Ford’s character Han Solo came about winning his infamous ship, the Millennium Falcon. The app maker is a company called Ren Ventures, which happens to be named after a character in 2015’s Star Wars movie The Force Awakens. Disney recently released Star Wars Episode IX The Last Jedi in the theaters, and is also gearing up for a new film revolving around a “young Han Solo”. Rumors are that the card game could play a pivotal part in the plot of that movie.

Disney, who know owns Star Wars as an entity, has filed the federal trademark lawsuit and hopes to prevent Ren Ventures from profiting off the card game app. It references the screenplay of 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, which references the pivotal plot point of Han Solo defeating his “buddy” Lando Calrissian in a game of sabaac. The pot in this fictional game was the Falcon, which has now become synonymous with Han Solo, Star Wars, etc. The game company counters that Lucasfilm never actually filed a trademark for “Sabaac”, and argues that they should be able to use it. The card game never actually made the final cut of the film, and quickly became popular among die hard Star Wars fans. Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released this spring.

It may seem a little silly for Disney to seek “damages” from a small company profiting off of their intellectual property. However, trademark and patent laws are fairly specific, and one would assume that Ren Ventures is not going to find a happy ending. It seems like Ren is finding another way to cause Han Solo pain, much like ending of The Force Awakens itself. Still, the card game making headlines is an interesting talking point for serious Star Wars fans, especially with the indication that it will play some role in the upcoming movie. Almost 40 years later, it looks like a feature film appearance for sabaac is finally in the cards.

Due to the chain of events stemming from a California vote in 2008, a challenge was made to the US Supreme Court recently on behalf of thirteen states. Voters in California were in favor of fighting for the living conditions of hens that are bred to lay eggs for farmers. A law was passed in compliance to the vote to require all hens at least 116 square inches of room to stretch their limbs and lay down throughout the day.

The more than adequate space is almost double the size of the industry standard of 67 square inches. While the relatively new law appeared heartfelt and progressive to the movement of hen rights, the law was actually in response to a growing concern of salmonella. Regardless of whether the reason for the law was health related or animal activist related, the result is the damaged agricultural business both in California and within the states that import eggs to California.

Naturally, egg farmers in California were displeased with the new law, as they felt it negatively affected competition within the agricultural industry. As a result of this complaint, state legislators amended the law to refuse the importation of eggs from other states that did not conform to the California egg law. Any farmer wishing to import eggs to California must first enlarge the hens’ environment to the required 116 square inches of floor space. In 2012, about 5 billion eggs were produced in California and about 4 billion eggs were imported from other states.

The lawsuit, which was filed in late 2017, cites not only an effect on the individual farmers, but also a negative impact on egg consumers. Since January 2015, eggs have increased in price between 1.8 percent and 5.1 percent, with a recorded cost of $350 million to US households that buy eggs. The cost of producing eggs under the California law is burdensome to states and does not alleviate the unmerited war on salmonella.

The states involved in the lawsuit include Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. The states are asking the Supreme Court to hear the lawsuit without first going through the lower courts.

The National Football League is no stranger to off the field issues, and it looks like they’re going back to the courtroom. The City of St. Louis claims that the Rams, who have moved from Missouri to Los Angeles, have violated their own “relocation guidelines”. A group of about 100 plaintiffs is upset about how the Rams went about the process and are looking for their pound of flesh. Not only was the football franchise named, but also the NFL itself, plus it’s 32 league owners. St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh ruled that the lawsuit would not be dismissed or brought to arbitration, which is a win for the football fans in the mid-west. Ironically, the Rams have returned to prominence since going back to Los Angeles, on the strength of top draft pick Todd Gurley and 31-year-old head coach Sean McVay.

The Rams franchise had previously been located in California for almost 30 years, but moved to St. Louis in the in the mid 90’s. They enjoyed a very high level of success, and for a term were known as “The Greatest Show on Turf”. With Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner at the helm, the Rams won their first and only Super Bowl in 1999. Since then, the team faded considerably and kept having losing seasons, to the point where fan interest and attendance in St. Louis faded. As any business would do, the NFL and the Rams franchise decided that staying in Missouri was no longer a scaleable model. In 2016, after selecting first overall pick Jared Goff as their new quarterback, the Rams went back west; much to the dismay of a handful of die-hard St. Louis faithful.

The main question here is; what do the plaintiffs wish to gain? The judge has ruled that yes, it’s not off the table that the football franchise acted unethically, but did dismiss a claim of fraud. According to the lawsuit, the St. Louis fans are seeking “extensive” damages and restitution. What that entails is up for debate, although many would assume a monetary value will be found. Truthfully, in a league plagued by injury concerns and character issues, even a relocation lawsuit is almost insignificant when considering how much revenue Roger Goodell has brought in.

Amazon.com Inc was named in a lawsuit involving super-specific targeted advertising on the popular social media platform, Facebook. The lawsuit accuses Amazon of trying to show ads to a certain age group, those younger than 38, which is within Facebook’s targeting capabilities. While Facebook is not named in the lawsuit, this has been seen as an example of age discrimination, limiting the number of “older” people who would be able to apply for those open positions. Many ad platforms allow segmented targeting options, including age and gender. Also named in the lawsuit were 2 large scale internet/TV/phone providers, T-Mobile and Cox Communications.

The age discrimination lawsuit was filed in San Francisco, by the Communication Workers of America. Amazon has reportedly pulled their recruitment advertising for the time being. Facebook’s ad platform is based off user-data, and allows many different methods for those trying to market products or services to zero in on their client base. Beyond age and gender, ads can be targeted by religion, race, and even by “interest”; bringing up several more questions on the privacy of information on the web. For example, if you list “Catholicism” as your religion and “Ireland” as a place you are interested in, you could be targeted by airlines or travel companies encouraging you to rediscover your roots. This is just one example of how those in internet marketing can drill down and almost handpick their audience.

Facebook’s ad platform is certainly more advanced than many others out there. AdWords, which is Google’s main form of revenue, is a simple, keyword-based methodology that allows more levels and adjustments. The question of discrimination gets a bit murky here; if the information was given freely by the consumer, is there really a legitimate gripe if it is used to try and cater towards a certain group? If the job Amazon is advertising for involves physical activity, such as in a warehouse, is it age discrimination to prefer to hire someone younger, thinking that a younger person would be in better physical shape than an older person? Either way, it seems like Amazon and other companies will have to think twice before firing up a new ad campaign.

We have all had sub-par experiences at a restaurant or hotel, and some of us may have even gone online and left a negative review. What happens when a hotel threatens legal action over your feedback? Katrina Arthur of Indiana saw an additional $350 charge on her debit card after posting a bad review about a hotel, and also received a letter from the hotel’s lawyer, threatening legal action. The Indiana Attorney General’s office caught wind of the charge and legal threat, and fired back with a lawsuit against the hotel itself. The AG claims that a $350 charge would violate the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.

The Abbey Inn & Suites, located in Brown County IN, apparently has a negative review penalty in the fine print of their policies. However, this policy is never shown to the consumer, and they never sign any document with knowledge of this potential charge. The woman left a review after having some cleanliness issues with her hotel room, but there was no one on site to assist and little-to-no customer service. The hotel seems to be trying to protect themselves from damaging online reviews, including anything painting them as “unfair, abusive, or deceptive”. The Attorney General understandably has quite a bit of legal recourse here; Ms. Arthur just wants her $350 back and to raise awareness about negative online reviews.

It is hard to defend the hotel in this scenario; the policy they include seems unlawful, unrealistic, and apparently illegal. Hotels and restaurants must be very vigilant about online reviews, as these have become an important factor in search engine rankings over the last 5-10 years. It is not a stretch to say that negative online reviews can negatively impact a business, but there has to be some gray area. Most reviews, and much of the internet in general, can be viewed as negative, and it is difficult to separate fact from opinion. Either way, this woman deserves her money back and I imagine the hotel will be severely upgrading their customer service shortly.

The 5-year legal dispute between a former Minnesota Governor and the deceased American Sniper has finally settled. Following the publication of Chris Kyle’s autobiography, in 2012, Jesse Ventura filed a lawsuit against Kyle. Even after Kyle’s unfortunate passing in 2013, Ventura continued his legal pursuit against Kyle’s estate. Ventura argues that a particular passage in Kyle’s book is defamatory, and damaged his reputation within the Navy SEAL community.

As the events unfold in Kyle’s autobiography, both Kyle and Ventura were at a California bar near a SEAL base when Ventura, referred to as “Scruff Face” in the book, made a dislikable remark in Kyle’s presence. Kyle claims that Ventura offensively commented about the SEALs in the war in Iraq, which led Kyle to initiate an altercation with Ventura. By punching Ventura, Kyle paints a picture that he was sticking up for all Navy SEALs. Ventura contends that the fight never happened.

Chris Kyle is considered the deadliest sniper to have ever lived, with 160 confirmed killings. Jesse Ventura is a former Underwater Demolition Teams/SEAL member, former Minnesota Governor, former professional wrestler, and actor. When determining what really happened that night in the California bar, it is difficult to not consider the established credibility of both of these men. In 2014, a jury and a judge agreed with Ventura’s attorneys that the recollection detailed in Kyle’s book was defamatory to Ventura’s public image, and felt $1.8 million was worth the damage caused.

Despite the evidence presented, a federal appeals court overturned that $1.8 verdict in 2016. Just a couple of weeks ago, before having to go through another trial, both of the parties involved in the lawsuit decided to settle the dispute. While the specific terms of the settlement are not known to the public, Ventura has divulged that neither the widow of Chris Kyle, nor his estate will have to pay a dime toward the settlement. There is speculation that either HarperCollins, the company that published Kyle’s book, or the publisher’s insurance company will pay out the settlement.

With Bitcoin becoming a hot button issue over the last few months, the IRS was recently awarded some good news. Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase was ordered to turn over the data for all US consumers who purchased Bitcoin and other currencies between 2013 and 2015. The belief is that many of these people did not pay any tax on potential earnings. This would make them subject to potential auditing, as a Judge in California has ruled. Information for more than 14,000 people was handed over from Coinbase to the IRS. Bitcoin is the main form of cryptocurrency, a digital asset that is openly bought, sold, and held online with an ever-changing dollar value.

Without any government regulation, many cryptocurrencies have become incredibly volatile. Unlike the stock market, with set hours on business days, Bitcoin sees real-time peaks and valleys. The value of Bitcoin has gone up over 2,000% over the last year, peaking at over $20,000 USD. Coinbase, the gold standard of cryptocurrency platforms, not only charges a small premium for buying and selling, but also allows users to trade lesser known cyrpto currencies (such as ETH, LTC, and recently BCH). This volatility lead many people doubling, tripling, and quadrupling their investments, literally overnight, opening the door for the IRS to inquire about Coinbase’s users. While not allowed to necessarily get involved in BTC itself, the recent ruling confirmed that the IRS could get involved with Coinbase as they are a US-based business.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are often looked at as “the stock market on steroids”. While many on Wall Street are concerned about volatility and long-term sustainability, early adopters have already profited handsomely. The number of US consumers who actually reported earnings on Bitcoin between 2013 and 2015 is reportedly under 1,000, meaning a large majority of people profited, but reported nothing. The IRS involvement may be the first step towards a bursting the “bubble” of BTC and other cryptocurrencies. A counter-point to that is that Bitcoin is not a bubble at all, but rather the pin.

The degree of medical treatment a patient undergoes may determine the amount of Medicare reimbursement a medical facility will receive. Families may feel skeptical toward extensive healing of their loved ones; sometimes with good reason. While some treatments are overcompensated to help ensure a full recovery, others are simply unnecessary.

Vladimir Trakhter, a former Olympia Therapy, Inc. physical therapist working at an Ohio nursing home, produced valid claims of abuse against Olympia, the nursing home, and the management company (Provider Services, Inc.). Trakhter witnessed first-hand the extent to which patients, particularly the elderly with cognitive limitations, would be administered therapy that would exceed the threshold of what their bodies could handle.

One patient with back ailments was forced to participate in a 75-minute therapy session, which resulted in a compression fracture. He had expressed his concern and desire to stop the therapy, but was met with refusal from medical staff. Another patient with heart issues suffered a heart attack and died after arguing with a therapist about the increased overtreatment he was receiving.

Based on these accounts, among others, a lawsuit was filed by Trakhter on behalf of the United States under the False Claims Act. This act allows an individual, who has witnessed some form of fraudulent activity against the Federation Government, to act on its behalf in filing a lawsuit. In this case, Trakhter took on the role of whistleblower in bringing the Medicare fraud to light. He is protected as the party who aided in the silencing of this healthcare scheme.

All parties involved have agreed to settle the lawsuit, for the price of $22.4 million. While the United States will retrieve $19.5 for Medicare reimbursement, Trakhter will see $2.9 million as a reward for his efforts. Trakhter is the example of someone who took a stand against practices he felt were both unethical and illegal.

Based on the evidence presented by opposing parties, a jury is faced with the dilemma of determining whether a particular lawsuit is frivolous or legitimate. The 1994 McDonald’s coffee lawsuit paved the way for public speculation of seemingly litigious lawsuits. The black and white version is that a customer sustained permanent injuries and someone had to pay the consequences. The gray line was left for the jury to determine: whether or not the customer or McDonald’s was negligent in the situation. In that particular case, the jury felt that the fast food chain carried the burden of responsibility more so than the injured party. A similar decision was met in the recent case of Henry Walker vs. Walmart.

On June 25, 2015, Henry Walker went to Walmart, intending to purchase a watermelon. When he reached for a desirable melon, Mr. Walker slipped. His foot snagged on a protruding wooden pallet, causing him to fall. The incident resulted in Mr. Walker’s fractured hip and a lifetime of pain and suffering. In an instant, Mr. Walker’s life went from that of a physically active gentleman, to that of a man forced to use a walker to aid in mobility.

The jury agreed that the unfortunate accident at Walmart was worth the verdict of $7.5 million in compensation. While $2.5 million will be paid to Mr. Walker in compensatory damages to help pay for medical care, the remaining $5 million will be paid in punitive damages, to serve as an example and warning for Walmart to take consideration in the safety of their customers.

Walmart is appalled by the ruling in this lawsuit, and plans to appeal. According to a Walmart representative, the damages awarded to Mr. Walker were extreme, given the circumstances. The superstore maintains innocence in the matter, and actually points to Henry Walker as the negligent party. Despite the ruling for punitive damages, Walmart has continued to, and intends to continue to, use the pallets for the stores’ melon displays.